I have to say, the second time is as exciting as the first. As soon as I hung up from talking to Tessa, I called my husband. He answered without looking at who was calling. Once he figured out who the crazy woman was screaming into the phone, he was excited, too.

As congratulations have been pouring in throughout the day via Facebook, Twitter and email, I’ve been walking on air. The excitement hangs on for quite a while. Tomorrow, though, I’ll get my head out of the clouds and get back to writing.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Romance Writers of America Conference in July. This year it’s in Orlando, about 45 minutes from home, so I don’t even have to fly. And hubby will get to attend. It’s a pretty formal affair, which means I get to shop for another gown. Woohoo!

I recently finished reading Another Day Another Dali, by Sandra Orchard, and have to say that I loved it! It’s the second book in the Serena Jones Mystery Series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. I loved the humor throughout the book, and there was plenty of action and plot twists to keep me turning pages. There were touching moments, too, especially regarding Serena’s poor relationship with her grandmother.

Like A Fool and His Monet, Another Day Another Dali is full of interesting and quirky characters, many of whom are making a reappearance. Retired professor Sutton is still hitting up residents of the apartment complex where Serena lives with his “Word of the Day,” and quirky Aunt Martha is even more outrageous than she was in the first book. I love the touch of romance, too. I’m still not sure if Serena is going to end up with fellow FBI agent Tanner or building superintendent Nate. I’m leaning more toward Tanner, but think they’re both pretty swoon-worthy!

Though this is a complete story, a mystery that hasn’t been tied up yet is who killed Serena’s grandfather years ago during the theft of a valuable painting. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.

Back cover copy:

When a valuable Salvador Dali painting belonging to her grandmother’s friend is mysteriously replaced by a forgery, FBI Special Agent Serena Jones is called in to investigate. Serena hopes finding the thief will also mean finally measuring up to Nana’s expectations. But when the evidence points to members of the owner’s own household, it becomes increasingly clear that Serena won’t be winning any popularity contests.

The Dali isn’t the only painting that’s fallen prey to the forgery-replacing thief, raising the specter of a sophisticated theft ring–one with links to dirty cops, an aspiring young artist, and the unsolved murder of Serena’s grandfather.

With plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments, Another Day, Another Dali gives the plucky Serena Jones–and readers–a new high-stakes case to crack.

And the winner is…Deb Klein! Congratulations, Deb! My publicists from Litfuse Publicity Group will be in touch via email with details on how to claim your prize. You can also email your mailing address to info {at} litfusegroup {dot} com.

While you’re there, I hope you’ll also follow the blog tour. To find out where I’ve been and see which stops offer other prizes, click HERE. At the bottom of the page, click “Reviews,” and each of the reviews that show up have a link to that particular blogger’s post. Have fun!

The blog tour for Trust My Heart has officially started, and I have some exciting details to pass along. Over the next three weeks, I’ll be appearing on a lot of different blogs. There will be opportunities to win free books on several of them, but one lucky winner will receive an awesome Murphy-themed basket of goodies with a $75 VISA gift card.

To check out the tour and enter the giveaway, click here. But hurry! The tour ends 11/23.

Before I was published, I used to enter a lot of contests. One of the first contests I entered, a judge said I needed to learn to write in deep point of view. I had never heard of it and had to look it up. I have to say, that is some of the best writing advice I have ever gotten.

For our Writer Wednesday post this month, my Firebird friends and I are talking about our pets. I’ve had lots of special fur babies over the years. Tiggy, my first cat as an adult, used to “hug” me when I picked him up, wrapping his front paws around my neck and burying his face in my hair.

Here is Suki and her pal Itsy. Suki (the Siamese) loved to play fetch. She had a little rubber mouse that she would drop at our feet and meow for us to throw it for her. This would go on until we finally wore her out. After a good nap, she was ready to go again.

Smudge was a solid white cat who was completely deaf. As a kitten he had two gray smudges on top of his head. The smudges faded and disappeared, but the name stuck. He was super sweet and loved to go for walks and car rides, the longest of which was from Florida to Connecticut and back. We used to get a lot of double-takes on the dog walks at rest areas. Here he is in Virginia.

Our last two cats to pass away were Itsy at 14 and Suki at 17 1/2 years old. We’re now a one-cat family, which hasn’t been typical for us. Midnight is enjoying being king of the house. He likes sitting in my lap as I write. I think he’s critiquing.

He also loves boxes. It doesn’t matter how small. I call this pic, “How to fit 17 pounds of feline blubber into a 7×10 box.”

Recently Midnight discovered something that he likes even better than boxes. My mom got him his first catnip toy. That black blob you see is a stoned cat.

After years of having only cats, we rescued two long-haired dachshunds, Morgan and Bailey. We lost Bailey to an enlarged heart, but her sister Morgan is still with us. She likes my husband, but she’s super attached to me.

Trust My Heart has its first review, on Deena Peterson’s “Just One More” blog. She says, “Carol has created an engaging story and memorable characters and this is a great end-of-summer book!” and “…this comedy of errors warmed my heart.” Click here to read the rest of the review. Trust My Heart will be release October 25, but is available for preorder now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.